Literature for families to utilize in preparing their emergency escape plans, along with fire safety-themed handouts, will be available at the department's fire safety exhibition on Saturday, October 13 from 10:00 to 2:00 at the Police Hall of Fame, located at 6350 Horizon Drive in Titusville. Also on display will be apparatus from Titusville Fire and Emergency Services Department, including the department's restored 1925 American LaFrance fire engine.

Have you developed and practiced your family Fire Escape Plan? If you haven't, Titusville Fire and Emergency Services urges you to do so today. Keep your family safe--don't become one of these statistics:

On average, every three hours someone in the U.S. dies in a home fire. In Canada, someone is fatally injured in a residential fire roughly every 32 hours.

Most fatal fires kill one or two people. In 2005, 13 home fires killed five or more people. These 13 fires resulted in 80 deaths.

Cooking fires are the number one cause of home fires and home fire injuries.

More than half of all home fire deaths result from incidents reported between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. But only twenty percent of home fires occur between those hours.

Although children five and under make up about 7% of the country's population, they accounted for 12% of the home fire deaths, assigning them a risk almost twice that of an average person.

Older adults are also at greater risk of dying in a home fire than the population at large. Adults 65 and older face a risk twice the average person, while people 85 and older have a risk that is a little over four times that of the average person.

December and January were the peak months for reported home fires and home fire deaths.

Home fires, fire deaths and fire injuries are more common on Saturday and Sunday.

Cooking

Unattended cooking is the leading cause of home cooking fires.

Three in 10 reported home fires start in the kitchen—more than any other place in the home.

Frying is the leading type of activity associated with cooking fires.

More than half of all cooking fire injuries occurred when people tried to fight the fire themselves.

Two out of three reported home cooking fires start with the range or stove.

Electric ranges or stoves have a higher risk of fires, injuries and property damage, compared to gas ranges or stoves, but gas ranges or stoves have a higher risk of fire deaths.

Home fires peak around the dinner hour between 6:00 and 7:00 PM.

Heating

In 2003, heating equipment was involved in more than 53,000 home fires, resulting in 260 deaths, 1,260 injuries, and $494 million in direct property damage.

Heating equipment fires accounted for 16% of all reported home fires (second behind cooking) and 11% of home fire deaths.

The peak months for home heating fires are December, January and February.

Space heaters were involved in 26% of the home heating fires but 73% of the deaths.

Fireplaces or chimneys rank first in the number of fires among types of heating equipment. Most of these were caused by creosote build-up.

Candles

Candle fires account for an estimated 4% of all reported home fires.

During 2000-2004, an estimated 16,400 home structure fires were started by candles. These fires resulted in an estimated 200 civilian deaths, 1,680 civilian injuries and an estimated direct property loss of $450 million. Forty percent of U.S. home candle fires begin in the bedroom, causing 35% of the deaths resulting from these fires.

More than half of all candle fires that occurred between 2000 and 2004 started because a candle was left too close to combustible materials.

Lack of electrical power was a factor in 1/3 of fatal home candle fires.

Falling asleep was a factor in 12% of home candle fires and 25% of the home candle fire deaths.

Fourteen percent of the home candle fires that occurred between 2000 and 2004 took place in December, almost twice the monthly average. That's because candle fires often involve combustible seasonal decorations that wouldn't have been present at other times of the year.

Smoke alarms

A 2004 U.S. telephone survey found that 96% of the households surveyed had at least one smoke alarm.

The death rate per 100 reported fires is twice as high in homes without working smoke alarms (1.13) compared to homes with working smoke alarms (0.55).

When smoke alarms fail it is most often because of missing, disconnected or dead batteries.

Sixty-five percent of reported home fire deaths in 2000-2004 resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.

No smoke alarms were present in 43% of the home fire deaths.

An estimated 890 lives could be save each year if all homes had working smoke alarms.

Smoking materials

Smoking materials (i.e., cigarettes, cigars, pipes, etc.) are the leading cause of fire deaths and the third leading cause of civilian fire injuries in the U.S.

In 2003, smoking materials started an estimated 25,600 reported home structure fires in the U.S. . These fires caused 760 civilian deaths and 1,520 civilian injuries.

The most common material first ignited in home smoking-material fire deaths were mattresses and bedding, upholstered furniture, and floor covering.

Older adults are at the highest risk of death or injury from smoking-material fires even though they are less likely to smoke than younger adults.

Electrical

Between 1999-2003, electrical distribution and lighting equipment were involved in an estimated 19,100 reported home structure fires per year. These fires resulted in 140 civilian deaths, 610 civilian injuries and an estimated $349 million in direct property damage per year.

Extension cord fires outnumbered fires beginning with permanently attached or detachable power cords by more than two-to-one.

When sprinklers are present, the chances of dying in a fire are reduced by one-half to three fourths compared to fires where sprinklers are not present.

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